5050Poker Announce Plans to Leave Microgaming & Ceases Withdrawals

New Microgaming network policy has resulted in a number of regulars’ on the network looking for a new home. Licences on the network such as NordicBet and 5050Poker have been reported to have been dramatically limiting the number of tables their players’ are allowed to sit at.

This new policy is known as ‘Table Capping’ and is aimed as a disincentive to skins who cannibalise players’ from other skins on the network. If a member of the network is deemed to be benefiting too greatly from other licences, a table cap is put in place on its players’ as an attempt to limit the perceived damage.

Microgaming, the South African poker & casino company, is clearly conscious of the network’s ecology. Numerous recent changes have demonstrated that the network no longer wishes for its key partners such as Ladbrokes & StanJames to be punished by rakeback skins, who tend to poach these operators players’.

5050Poker released the following statement regarding the recent changes made by Microgaming (translated from Swedish):

“Microgaming has with very short notice and in violation of former pretenses to 5050poker unilaterally changed its network rules. First was the change that 5050poker poker player is limited to being able to play up to two poker tables at the previous 10 tables. Despite earlier promise to 5050poker would not be subject to the table capping.

The rule change affects primarily only a few gaming operators in the poker network and the company believes that the measure is yet another example of several discriminatory measures taken by Microgaming in order to get rid of unwanted gaming operators (whose players mostly belong to the category winning player).

Then on Friday 15 June impossible demands for guarantees that directly made ​​it impossible for 5050poker to remain in the network.”

Later in the same statement 5050Poker indicated that they were “working hard on finding a new solution.”

As the online poker landscape is rapidly changing, it’s hard to envisage 5050Poker continuing as a successful poker room. Indeed, what network will be willing to take them on after the recent Purple Lounge fiasco.

Although the Microgaming software still appears to be available on their site, it’s a a familiarly ominous sign that withdrawals and deposits have been ceased until further notice.